MP marks her first year in Westminster by calling for appointment of rural minister
MP Helen Morgan has marked the first anniversary of her election by challenging the Government to hire a minister dedicated to the needs of rural communities like North Shropshire.
Helen tabled a motion that highlights the serious challenges facing countryside areas and calls for the creation of a dedicated Minister for Rural Communities.
She said one in five people in the UK live in a rural community and said the Government to create a cross-departmental Minister for Rural Communities to lead the way in addressing issues and ensuring rural communities are fully considered in decision making.
The Lib Dem MP wants to see a new role to tackle issues hitting rural areas hardest such as the ambulance and social care crises, fuel and energy costs in the countryside and support for farming communities.
They are topics Helen has repeatedly raised in Parliament, where she has spoken 68 times in just 12 months since overturning a 23,000 majority to become North Shropshire’s first Liberal Democrat MP.
She has since been made the Lib Dem spokesperson for Levelling Up and has highlighted how the Government policy has so far neglected rural areas despite them suffering from many of the worst services in the country.
Helen the Liberal Democrat MP for North Shropshire, said: “My election last year showed that people in North Shropshire were fed up of being taken for granted by the Conservatives and yet 12 months on the Government has still failed to take the needs of rural areas seriously.
“From ambulance delays and energy costs to transport cuts and pressure on farmers, it is rural communities that are being hit the hardest by almost every crisis facing the UK.
“The Government can start to rectify its mistakes by installing a minister dedicated to rural communities. It’s crucial the role is cross-departmental because many of the problems we face are linked.
“North Shropshire has some of the longest hospital waits and worst bus services in the entire country. So vulnerable people wait months for an appointment and then when they get one they can’t get to hospital.
“We have an older population but the council gets no extra money for social care and our care providers are on the verge of going bust because they have to pay far more for fuel and travel further to reach their clients."
